Nowhere Else to Go
by Ashlahrs
Summary: Basically take out all the things involving Lord Voldemort! So no horcruxes or Death Eaters or Order of the Phoenix. Draco gets in trouble at home and is forced into Muggle society for a month, and Hermione, against her better judgment, offers him a place to stay. T because I don't think it'll ever get graphic or language filled enough to go mature.
1. What Are You Doing Here?

Summer was finally there, and for young sixteen year-old Hermione Granger that was all she looked forward to towards the end of the school year. This year she'd gotten her O.W.L.s and had gotten the highest grade possible on all of them thanks to her insistent studying. She hoped Ron and Harry got good grades. She would probably see them towards the end of the summer, but she was enjoying her life for now as a Muggle once more. Her parents were still working a lot, so she got away with using minor magic around the house and still got her subscription to the Daily Prophet. Not to mention she still had Crookshanks. He was currently sitting across her lap as she sat on the park bench with a book in hand. She was getting ahead on some books that she'd missed out on while she was at Hogwarts, and she was really enjoying it but wanted to get fresh air at the same time.

She was listening to the birds around her chirping as she quickly scanned across the pages of her book. Of course, because Crookshanks was a cat, he couldn't be left unattended by attention for very long. He gave a long meow before getting up and crawling on top of her book and lying across it. "You're such a ham," she laughed, giving in and running her hand over the orange fur. She supposed she should try to go hangout with some of her friends, but she didn't feel like talking about Hogwarts with them in fear that she would start to miss it. She missed recreational magic use, of course, but she couldn't start missing Harry and Ron now just because her friends wanted to know more about this special boarding school she went to now that nobody else could even look up let alone to go. That didn't seem to be a problem though as her phone went off with a text from one of her friends that said, We see you!

Hermione looked up and looked behind her to see two of her friends approaching. There was Mary, a girl with bright blue eyes and glasses with shoulder length black hair and bangs, and Caroline, a blonde girl who was taller than her by about two inches and who fit almost every stereotype related to blondes except that she was actually almost as smart as Hermione... almost. Crookshanks got up off her lap and ran right over to the two friends, falling at their feet and rolling over belly up in order to get pet by the newcomers. The cat had mastered the art of being a cat and getting pet for it. "How did you guys know I was here?" she asked, closing her book up and walking over to her friends, hugging each of them in turn.

"Well I said we should go to your house, but then you weren't there so we thought you'd be at the library," Caroline started.

"But you weren't there either, so we came here and here you were!" Mary finished.

"All you had to do was call," Hermione grinned. "What's the plan then?"

"You're going to buy us ice cream and tell us about what cool things happened to you at school this year."

The three friends, and Crookshanks, then got into Caroline's car and went to their favourite ice cream place in London. They spent the ride catching up and trying to keep Crookshanks from climbing out an open window or climbing down by the pedals of the car. For the duration of the ride, Hermione managed to keep the conversation towards them and not about herself. She learned that Mary got a new boyfriend and Caroline's premature acceptance to a university she wanted to go to. Hermione was kind of jealous about the latter, but then she remembered her grades at Hogwarts and smiled to herself to know that she was definitely one of the smartest people in Gryffindor house. Frankly she was probably smarter than most people in Ravenclaw, too, but she wasn't put in Ravenclaw nor did she know anyone there very well so she couldn't really say anything about that. Her Muggle knowledge, and she hated herself for using the term in reference to her friends, was probably lacking now though.

By the time they got to the ice cream parlor and got all their ice cream ordered, Hermione waited outside with Crookshanks, it had been long enough for them to exhaust all exciting things about themselves and start asking things about her. She wanted to know what ever happened to that football player, which is what she told them Viktor Krum was instead of saying Quidditch player, from Bulgaria or if she and her friend Ron finally decided to date. "Well, Ron went out with this girl Lavender Brown and was snogging her all over the place. It was ridiculous! Just throwing it in my face that he had a girlfriend."

"I hope you let him have it for that," Caroline said. "It sounds like he kind of deserved it this year."

"He did... And I did, don't worry."

"So did you have anyone special this school year?" Mary asked.

Hermione was about to answer when Crookshanks suddenly gave an unhappy noise and bolted towards a stranger, running right into him and clawing at their legs. Hermione's eyes went wide with shock and she ran towards the cat to pick him up with one arm, her ice cream in the other. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! He usually never acts like thi- Draco!?"

Well, that certainly explained why her cat had bolted the way he had. Crookshanks had gotten very used to detecting things from Hogwarts like magic or people. He missed it just like she did and didn't appreciate going back and forth between the Muggle world and the wizarding one. Looking up once she had her cat secure, Hermione looked over the tall, lean frame of Draco Malfoy. His eyes were grey and cold like always, but his expression was clouded with more disdain than usual. He was dressed in all black even though it was summer, and his blonde hair was perfectly arranged. Had it been anyone else who she didn't know Hermione would have found it attractive. Unfortunately for her, her friends did.

"Oooh! Who's this!?"

"Is he from that fancy school you go to?"

"Is this your football player?"

"Does he have a girlfriend and if not can I take the position?"

Draco regarded both of her friends with utter disgust, but he didn't walk away or turn away or ignore them. That was enough to make Hermione intrigued, curious. "Uhm... This is Draco Malfoy. He's in another, uhm, building than I'm in, but we've seen each other around and have a few classes together, and if you'll excuse us I need to talk to him." With that she grabbed Draco by the arm and dragged him about twenty feet away and stopped there. "**What** are you doing here? You're never in Muggle anywhere!"

"What I'm doing here isn't any of your business, Granger," he replied coldly.

"You're never without your body guards or your parents either... Seriously, _what_ are you doing here?" she asked, getting a little impatient. She wasn't sure why she cared as much as she did, but she was assuming it had something to do with the fact that her wizarding life and Muggle life were never supposed to collide.

"I'm here because I want to be."

"That's a lie." 

"Well what do you want from me?"

"I want to know why you're here when this is my time away from magic and school and your _bullshit _about my being a mudblood!"

"I got in trouble, alright?!" he suddenly shouted back, regaining his cool almost as soon as he lost it. "I'm punished and forced to live as a Muggle for a month... With no money and no contact with my parents." He looked as if he was fully expecting her to burst out and laugh at him. That isn't what she did though. Instead, she looked at him sadly and sighed. Confusion coloured his face with his eyebrows knitting closed. "I'm going now."

He pushed by her and continued walking on, away from her and her friends. Against her better judgment she called out, "Wait!" He made her life miserable at school over the years and was constantly hounding her about her bloodline, but Hermione in all good conscience couldn't let him go around London without anyone there who knew him. She was pretty sure he didn't even know how to survive in Muggle society. "Malfoy, you can stay with my parents and I for the month." The words were quiet, uncertain, but they were still true, true enough to make Malfoy stop and look at her confused once more. There was nothing logical about it, for either of them, but after what seemed like years Malfoy glared at her and let it soften for a brief moment before he gave a nod, accepting the offer.


	2. New Home

Then began the task of telling her friends why she had to leave so suddenly and failing to do so. They were her ride, and that meant that she and Draco would be put through even more questioning than usual. Hermione knew how to lie about it at least because she had muggle knowledge, but Draco probably didn't even know what sports there were outside of Quidditch. Even though that was easily the most interesting sport in the entire world, there were others that he should probably be made aware of. Oh Merlin... She was going to need to give him a crash course in what would basically be Muggle Studies. That was the one class at Hogwarts that she never studied for. "Remember, no magic, no Hogwarts, no Quidditch, no _mudblood_, and no muggles," she told him, hissing the word mudblood. She was a muggle, these were her muggle friends, and he was going to avoid discussing magic at all cost because then she would be the one in trouble, not him.

"How about I just don't say anything?" he asked, rolling his eyes as he got into the back seat of the car after Hermione. He looked at the vehicle uncertainly at first. He'd never seen one up close before and had no idea what it did. Hermione, with a sigh, reached out and grabbed his hand before yanking him quickly into the car and leaning over him to close his door. "What _is_ this thing?" he asked her quietly. He didn't like being confused, and confused he definitely was.

"It's a _car_, stupid," she replied just as quietly, biting her lip when she saw Mary look back at them a little puzzled. For the distraction away from her and Draco, Hermione let Crookshanks go and watched as he made his way over her and Draco and into the front seat.

"Why don't they just apparate or use _floo powder _or fly?"

"Muggles can't do any of those things!"

"How do they live?"

"Normally!"

With a huff, Draco looked at Hermione like she'd lost her mind before looking at her friends and then turning his attention out the window. Muggles were so curious, so stupid. They lacked everything that he had, and Draco couldn't help but wonder how they made it through their day. No elves to cook or clean for them, no magic to do things around the house or to get things that they can't be bothered to get, not even an easy way to get around. He grew even more frustrated with his predicament the more he thought about it. This was easily the worst form of punishment he could have ever been given. There is nothing he could have done that would warrant this as a punishment. Of course it was the one time that his mother decided to stop mommying him and actually let his father punish him. It was so unfair! He didn't deserve it. He was so much better than they are!

"So Draco, what brings you to London without a place to stay?" Caroline asked, looking back at the two of them over the seat. They'd never heard of Draco before at all, only of Harry and Ron and the rest of the Weasleys, so they were curious as to who this stranger was.

Draco was caught off guard by the question even though it was so simple. What was he doing there? Well, he'd been punished and was now stuck in what was his own personal hell for the month. He was a wizard among muggles, and he had no lie at the read yto answer such a simple question. "I'm here because..."

"He's staying with some distant family and arrived too early because of a traveling mix up so he'll stay with me until his family gets back from out of town."

Hermione thought quickly on her feet. She hated to say it, but she had gotten really good at lying to her friends. It made her feel guilty keeping the biggest part of her life hidden away from everyone but her parents. Was it fair that Harry and Ron and the Weasleys got to know everything about her muggle life yet she couldn't tell anyone about her wizarding life? Draco must have seen the look on her face and sneered briefly and quietly said, "Missing your stupid friends are you?"

"Missing your everything are you?" she snapped back, clapping her hands a couple of times and getting Crookshanks to crawl into her lap. "Mary, you can drop us off here if you'd like."

"No no no! You get front door service whether you have a cute guy with you or not," she replied with a grin. Her friends were definitely not shy about their looking over Malfoy. He was dressed in his black turtle neck, jacket, and slacks, and was looking very disgruntled, but he was still really nice to look at. Her friends just didn't get what kind of hell Draco continued to put her through all these years. Sure, she'd gotten to punch him... That was honestly one of her favourite memories of him. Well, that and his getting turned into a ferret. She could definitely say that those made some of the less favorable personality traits easier to get along with.

Draco sighed and shook his hair out of his face for a moment and, with a lot of tension in the words because it was obvious they were forced, offered a quiet thanks to the muggles for their willingness to drive, a word which Hermione provided, him. He was going to take some time to get used to the muggle culture, and he was irritated to think that he was going to have to learn to do so to begin with. Why should he be stuck there? There was nothing he could have done to deserve it... Then again, knowing his mother, she would cave and go find him and bring him home within a week's time. That was something to hold out for.

"So, Draco, how do you know Hermione?" Mary asked, making Hermione sigh.

"She attends school in our rival ho-" a look from Hermione stopped him, "building, so we see a lot of each other through, ehrm, competitions."

"And he and Harry play on opposite teams, don't you, Draco?"

"Ah yes... Potter plays as well..."

"Oooh! An athlete! Hermione you should really try to land one if you don't want Krum or if Ron isn't going to make a move," Caroline grinned, trailing off into giggles. They just wanted Hermione to have a boyfriend. She only told them about Viktor once and it wasn't enough. They wanted her to be happy, and they thought that having a boyfriend was the only way for that to happen. They didn't know the world of magic and wonder that she was constantly in. Never would they be able to understand why she threw herself into academia the way that she did. She knew they would do the same thing in her place, but Draco didn't understand it either. How could one person love learning so much? He didn't understand that because she didn't grow up with all of it at her disposal that she was enthralled with it. It was a gift to her whereas to him it was a right.

"You have arried, m'lady!" Caroline laughed as the car stopped and the three girls and the cat got out. The three of them exchanged embraces and 'See you later's along with the promise to call or text each other later. She waved at them all with Crookshanks still in her arms until the car drove away. She didn't want to have to deal with anything out of the ordinary at the current moment. However, she of course had to answer Draco's first question which was,

"What is a text?"

"An instant message."

"What's that?"

"It goes from cell phone to cell phone in an instant," she replied, taking her cell phone out of her pocket and passing it to Draco's uncertain hands. "It can call, text, and go on the Internet."

"And what is the Int-"

"It's all the information you could ever want right at your disposal."

His eyebrows raised for a moment as he processed that response. It was a hard concept to wrap his mind around. All of the worlds muggle information right at the disposal of everyone who had access to it? Ridiculous! Yet she seemed so certain when she said it that it had to be true. Muggles were such weird creatures. Yes, they were creatures, not human beings like wizards were. They were underprivileged and non-magical and therefore less than humans, that was obviously it. That was how he was raised, and it was what he believed right to his core. It was disgusting that he would need to live among them. No clothes, no money, no nothing.

With a sigh, he looked down at Granger and waited for her to do something. She in turn looked at him and then gestured to the house they were standing in front of. It was a nice two story house. It was white with dark red trim that looked like it was actually rather cozy on the inside. It looked warm and inviting unlike his own manor, filled with black and metal and everything physically possible to make it seem like a prison. He nodded after her and walked behind as she opened the dark mahogany door. Inside the house, there was a left which led into the living room. It was a small room filled with various shades of red and brown with a tan coloured carpet. There was a black box that was sitting atop a cabinet with other boxes that had lights on them. There was a coffee table in the middle of the room with a brown leather couch running parallel to it and two chairs on either end. On the mantle of the brick fireplace there were even various family pictures and portraits.

"So... Those are your _parents?_" he asked, trying to comprehend why his family didn't have pictures together like that. "And why aren't they moving?"

"Yes, those are my parents. I do have them you know," she replied with slight laughter. "And muggle pictures don't move. They're quite stationary... but we have television and movies. Those move."

"What are those?"

"They're like moving pictures only they tell a story and don't change based on what you do to them."

"Why would you ever find that entertaining?"

"You'll find out I suppose."

The tour continued on after that. She showed him the small kitchen and where the downstairs restroom was along with the dining room and the study, which was really just more like a reading room when her parents weren't in there, before she led him upstairs. She showed him her parents' room because it had the master bathroom in case all the others were full for any reason, followed by her private bathroom which she would now be sharing, and then showed him his room after skipping over hers, which was right in between her parents' room and his room. Draco's room was the guest room. It was equipped with a nice closet and a dresser that had a small television on it. There was a double sized bed with light green blankets and sheets to go with the light green colours of the walls. It would do, he supposed, and he wasn't even in the position to complain.

"I suppose I should let my parents know that you'll be staying with us."

"You mean they'll know I'm here?"

"Of course! They're my parents."

"So... I need to get along with muggles..."

"Yes."

"And what have you told them about me?"

"Sadly, enough where they're going to demand why I let you stay with us. But they know at least that you won't try anything. Hate to contaminate you or anything."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you hate me and my family and my friends and my other world, and you don't need to pretend otherwise while you're here."

"Just don't mention this at school."

"Wouldn't dare," she concluded, leaving him in his room to go call her parents and let them know that they would be having a guest for dinner and for the month.


	3. The Muggle World

While Hermione was placing a phone call to her parents, Draco was left to his own devices in the guest room that would be his for the remainder of summer until his parents both came to their senses. They had punished him maybe three times in his entire life, and this one was easily the cruelest punishment yet. All he'd done was say he didn't see why he had to stay loyal to the Dark Lord if it was pretty obvious, at least to him, that he wasn't coming back. Lord Voldemort was dead and gone never to be seen again, so what was the point in his pledging loyalty to someone who would never affect his life in the present or future. It was actually his Aunt Bellatrix who suggested he be punished. Although her idea of punishment was more along actual torture rather than sending him out into the "real" world without magic. As he wasn't yet seventeen, his use of magic had to be minimal.

The Dark Lord wasn't coming back, not now and not never. While he had no problem stepping to his family's whims, he didn't understand why they had to control that one aspect of his life if it wouldn't matter. It seemed like an utter waste of time. Unfortunately, he'd said it at a time when Bellatrix had been over at the Malfoy Manner, so of course his parents were going to be spineless worms and agree to punish him just as she'd asked. They were just as spineless as the stupid Gryffindors when you got down to the truth of it. With a sigh, Draco put himself on the bed and took off his shoes before lying back on it. He had some manners after all. He rested his head on the pillows with his fingers laced behind his head, his eyes closed. This is what his summer would be reduced to? His vacation from mudbloods and school was to be spent only with the biggest mudblood of them all in a sea of muggles? If anyone found out... Oh Merlin, nobody had better find out.

His thoughts were wandering, and, after a few moments of desperation, he thought he could try to enjoy his time there. How, he had no idea, but he supposed he could give it a try. _Stop that, you're Draco Malfoy._ He didn't get along with _muggles_. He wasn't supposed to even be there! It was a terrible environment, and he couldn't even believe that he was being put up in a muggle's house with muggle people and a _mudblood. _Oh how low he had sunk. Draco felt himself getting worked up and sighed, inhaling slowly through his nose and exhaling through his mouth. _It's just for the summer, Draco. Your stupid parents could come to their senses and summon you back._ Draco was in the middle of trying to calm himself down with deep breathing when he heard a creak that wasn't made by him. He shot up and looked to see Granger leaning against her doorway staring at him. He had no idea what the look her face was. To him it was something he'd never seen before, but it was actually sympathy. His experience with that particular emotion was limited, sadly, and thus he couldn't recognize it when it was right in front of his face.

"What do you want, Granger?" he asked with a sigh as he slipped his shoes back on.

"My parents said that they're going out for their date night anyway and that we're on our own for dinner. So what would you like to do, Draco?"

_Since when did she call me Draco?_ The thought left his mind just as quickly as it had entered as he replied, "What do you mean what would I like to do?"

"What would you like to eat or do you care!?" she asked, getting a little frustrated that the question wasn't answered when it was already stated plainly. He just shrugged and she sighed, shaking her head for a moment. "I'll go get dinner. Don't leave the house, don't touch anything, and don't break anything. If you need something, just use the phone."

She walked over to the land line that was on his side table and wrote her number down right by it just in case he did need her because he burned the house down. That wouldn't really surprise her. "If you need something to entertain yourself, you can go into the living room and the television can entertain you." However, before he could ask her what a television was, she had grabbed a lavender jacket and her wallet and, based on the sounds of the doors, left the house. That left Draco alone... again... in a strange house in a strange place. At least now Granger was gone so he could get somewhat acclimated to his surroundings in his own time.

Draco got up and wandered around the house. He checked where the restrooms were, wandered around the upstairs and even poked around through some other rooms. There was one room that had a couple of desks with weird boxes on them that looked like typewriters with screens. He had no idea what those things were, but he decided to just leave them be and ask Granger later. The one thing he did to was poke his head into Granger's room. What he saw wasn't really what he expected.

In Hermione Granger's room the walls were painted a light purple colour that reminded him of the sunrise early in the morning. The walls had faint white clouds and a white molding along the walls. Her furniture was all a nice mahogany and it looked warm and inviting. He was curious as to what muggles had in their rooms. Forgetting modesty for a moment, he sat in the desk chair and looked around the room, spinning slowly. He felt exposed. He didn't feel right. But he hadn't felt normal ever since his parents had kicked him out. He assumed that it was just because he was in a strange environment. He opened the desk drawers and found a faded book that he assumed was a journal of some sort, but when he tried to open it he learned that it was enchanted to stay locked. Even his quiet muttering of _"Alohomora"_ hadn't done anything.

Sighing, he felt frustrated by the fact he couldn't learn anything. Oh well. He got up and left the room, being sure to leave it exactly as it was, before he jogged down the stairs and went through the downstairs. The kitchen was small and quaint. There was a nice, little dining room as well that looked like it was perfect for a family dinner, and the living room was... well, it was nice. He sat on the nice white couch and looked around the room. There were family portraits and pictures along the walls and the occasional bookshelf. Then he turned his attention to the entertainment center. There was a huge box with smaller boxes with LED lights. There were remotes, although he thought they were just controls with buttons, on the coffee table and he grabbed one. Looking down at it, he pressed the one labeled power and stared wide eyed at the screen as it lit up. There was a news show. He had no idea what was going on.

Instead of trying to stare and comprehend it, he shook his head and went to grab the newspaper that was on the TV. "Finally, something normal," he sighed, opening it up and staring at it. But... the pictures... they weren't moving. And now that he thought about it, neither did the pictures on the walls. How did they stay still? He tried to read the words of the paper, but he couldn't get passed the fact the pictures weren't moving. How... Just... _**How?!**_ Draco didn't understand. It made his head spin, and he knew that he needed to lie down. He put his feet up on the couch and put the paper back down on the table as neatly as he found it. It was too much to take in and he needed to take a minute. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down by thinking of home. He thought of their house elves and the fact they could use magic. The moving pictures and even _The Daily Prophet _were a sudden comfort to him. He just wanted to go home... How could his parents do that to him? He didn't know, but right before he fell asleep on Granger's couch, all Draco knew was that he would need Granger if he would fully adapt to muggle society, and that wasn't something he wanted to admit to.


End file.
